Rockstar Devs and the Rest of the Games Industry React to GTA 6’s Shocking Trailer Leak and Release

It’s been a wild afternoon, with the internet’s eager wait for the very first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer drop tomorrow morning cut short by a leaker posting the trailer to Twitter. Rockstar quickly responded by posting the 4K version of the trailer on its own channels, so it’s official: we have our first look at GTA 6. Now as members of the industry and community wrap their minds around the brief trailer, everyone has thoughts about what they just saw, what it means for the long-awaited game, and how the reveal went down in the first place.

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First and foremost, let’s hear from developers at Rockstar, who were understandably frustrated by the leak today. Still, several expressed a mixture of relief and delight that the trailer was out in the world, even if it hadn’t gotten there the way they’d planned:

Well, that fucking sucks.

— Lloyd Knott (@LloydK_VFX) December 4, 2023

Sad that it was shown this way, but still super stoked to finally let the world see what we’ve been working on! Hope y’all enjoy 😊 https://t.co/lAhYXcn4p8

— Jay Marsden-Bullen (@jayMarBu) December 4, 2023

sad that it came out this way, but couldn’t be more excited to be working on an amazing project with amazing people 🌟 https://t.co/1L1MjuJwee

— zara 🙂 (@elysivms) December 4, 2023

Enjoy, folks. Would have been nice to do this with all of you at the same time. https://t.co/JoQxIQXoJA

— Phil B (@philcsf) December 4, 2023

As for everyone else, one of the first major voices to react was popular streamer and political commenter Hasan Piker, though he was far from the only person to respond to the trailer with a witty wisecrack:

GTA 6 IS POLITICAL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) December 4, 2023

I’m a bit disappointed that I have to wait until 2025 to experience an extreme parody / satire of US culture in GTA6 when Americans can already experience it today by walking outside.

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 4, 2023

Guy who has only ever played Grand Theft Auto: London: “Wow pretty ballsy for them to set a Grand Theft Auto game in the United States of America!”

— Sam Barlow 🔥 IMMORTALITY (@mrsambarlow) December 4, 2023

Even the wrestling community is getting in on it:

How did this leak so early https://t.co/cCDDNl4Bac

— MR. PENTICO 🇵🇷🐍👑 (@KingSerpentico) December 5, 2023

Some people just expressed excitement generally:

Leaks fucking suck but holy fucking GOD GTA 6 looks downright insane and everyone that worked on that project should be proud.
See y’all in 2 years

— Adrian Campos (@MLPcampos) December 4, 2023

ready to fall in love with this bonnie & clyde duo pic.twitter.com/jxuT78QBsa

— Kaitlyn Red Wing 🔜 The Game Awards (@KaitlynRedWing) December 4, 2023

A few folks, including Firewalk Studios director of comms Scott Lowe and Annapurna Interative marketing director Jeff Legaspi, leaned into the humor of the Florida setting paired with in-game TikTok shenanigans:

Having grown up in Florida, this appears to be the Most Florida video game to ever exist. I can’t wait. https://t.co/D8cfdAv6Qx

— Scott Lowe (@ScottLowe) December 4, 2023

GTA VI really is gonna be Florida Man the Game 😭

— Jeff Legaspi (@j_legs) December 4, 2023

Not to get too into the Florida weeds, but narrative designer Anna Webster posted a superb callout to my new favorite character in the whole trailer:

what do you MEAN he’s not the protagonist???? https://t.co/NsKSyP59ZL

— Anna 🌿 – Looking For Work 👁️ (@annacwebs) December 4, 2023

Plenty of people commented on the fact that the trailer leaked and effectively forced Rockstar Games to release their official version hours early. New Blood Interactive head Dave Oshry specifically participated in what seems to be a common discussion on social media right now: that the leaker is likely to be in one big mess of (legal) trouble when Rockstar and publisher Take-Two catch them.

We waited for years and… they just… they just tweeted it out.

— Tinsley (@Tinsley_PR) December 4, 2023

When they catch who leaking shit pic.twitter.com/KuTUGBSsgo

— The Dave Awards (@DaveOshry) December 4, 2023

A number of developers and industry figures took a moment to express sympathy for Rockstar, which had presumably rallied all its resources for the trailer to go live tomorrow and instead had to scramble to respond to the leak today. Xbox senior social media manager Josh Stein even broke down in detail why situations like this one are so frustrating for studios.

Can’t believe this happened and really feel for the 1000’s of people who would have wanted to have that moment of watching it go live together. The consolation is that the quality of the teams work really shines though. https://t.co/UFEc1Ice42

— James Jarvis (@James_Jarvis) December 4, 2023

Trailer leaks are bad. They hurt creatives, trade and business alike.

— Ralph 🕶️ (@RalphJodiceJr) December 5, 2023

While the cat and mouse game of leak/not leaked is fun to follow on social. Let me tell you it sucks from the inside.

Teams work literally hours, days, weeks, nights, to build the best rollout to capture the attention of social media and go loud and proud for the community.…

— Stein (@steinekin) December 4, 2023

And then there’s the folks sparing a thought for Naughty Dog, which had the utter misfortune to release its trailer for The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s new roguelike mode right as the GTA6 leak happened. Sorry, Naughty Dog.

Bro what unfortunate timing for this trailer lol https://t.co/NEwv41noWN

— Blessing Adeoye Jr. (@BlessingJr) December 4, 2023

All in all, the vibes are good on social media and in the games community even in the wake of a massive trailer reveal not going entirely to plan. Frustrating as leaks can be for those whose work is dependent on trailers launching on time, it hasn’t curbed the hype for GTA 6. I’m not sure what could at this point.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].